UK school term dates 2026/27: local dates and what parents must check

There is no single set of UK school term dates for 2026/27: dates vary by region and local authority. To plan for your child, use the calendar for their school rather than treating a UK-wide holiday guide as a timetable. The UK term-date overview highlights those regional differences.

The confirmed council examples below cover autumn 2026 in four English areas, not a complete UK calendar. Sandwell’s published term begins on 1 September; Wandsworth, Coventry and Croydon begin on 2 September. All four end on 18 December. These are published term boundaries, not confirmation of your individual child’s first or last attendance day. Check those details directly with the school before committing to childcare or travel.

Confirmed autumn term dates for 2026/27

These dates apply to the named council calendars. They should not be extended to neighbouring areas or used as dates for Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.

The comparison shows why even a small local difference matters: Sandwell’s published start is one day earlier than the other three. Equally, their shared December end date does not establish a national Christmas holiday period. You also need the following term’s return date to work out the whole break.

What about Christmas, Easter and the summer holidays?

The evidence available for this guide does not establish a complete 2026/27 schedule of half-terms, spring and summer terms, or holidays across the four UK nations. Giving one set of dates for those periods would create false certainty.

For a usable full-year calendar, collect each of the following from your child’s school calendar:

• Autumn: the September attendance start, autumn half-term break and final attendance day before Christmas.
• Spring: the January return, spring half-term break and final attendance day before the Easter break.
• Summer: the return after Easter, summer half-term break and final attendance day before the summer holidays.
• Additional attendance details: any listed staff-training or INSET days, other closures and arrangements specific to your child’s year group.

For each break, record both the last day your child attends and the day they return. A holiday label on its own is not enough to calculate childcare needs.

Build a calendar you can actually use

1. Start with the school, then cross-check the council

Find the school’s term-dates page or published calendar and check that it explicitly says 2026/27. If you use one of the council links above, make sure you are reading the relevant academic year rather than another year on the same page.

Save the calendar or its link alongside your diary. This gives you a clear reference if a date in a newsletter appears different later.

2. Separate term dates from attendance dates

Ask the school: “Which day does my child need to attend, and are there any non-pupil days within the published term?” For a child starting nursery or Reception, also ask whether the school has issued an individual start date or settling-in timetable.

Do not turn a council’s term-start date straight into a confirmed drop-off arrangement without checking that distinction.

3. Mark uncertainty rather than guessing

Use three labels in your family calendar: confirmed by school, council date only, and awaiting confirmation. Keep an unconfirmed date visible, but do not treat it as a firm basis for a non-refundable booking.

Where two documents disagree, send the school office the dates and document titles and ask which applies to your child. That is more useful than asking generally when the holidays are.

4. Compare every child’s calendar

If you have children at different schools, make a separate row for each child before merging their dates into one family diary. Check the beginning and end of every break, not just whether both calendars call it “half-term”.

Hypothetical example: a parent comparing the Sandwell and Coventry council calendars would see different September term starts. That flags a possible extra day to organise, but it does not yet prove either child’s attendance arrangements. The next step is to check both schools’ calendars, then identify any day when one child needs care and the other attends school.

5. Turn confirmed gaps into a care plan

Once attendance dates are settled, mark which weekdays require childcare or annual leave. If you intend to use a holiday club, check its actual opening dates against those gaps rather than assuming it covers the whole school break.

Before paying for travel or care, make one final comparison with the school’s latest calendar. The useful planning unit is not “the UK school holiday”: it is the exact period when your child will not be attending school.